Australian jockey Kyle Wilson-Taylor has been granted a one-day visiting jockey’s licence to ride at the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth II Cup meeting on Saturday, 7 September.
Wilson-Taylor will replace jockey Chad Schofield to ride the Tim Fitzsimmons-trained Golden Monkey in the second-last feature race of the season run over 1800m.
The 24-year-old jockey was previously invited to ride the Jason Ong-trained Great Warrior in the Group 1 Singapore Derby (1800m) on 21 July but did not make the trip after the gelding pulled out of the feature race, which was eventually won by Lim's Saltoro.
Growing up in suburban Melbourne, Wilson-Taylor first rode a horse at a school camp and was only 12 when he spent time with trainers Lee and Shannon Hope in Seymour, Victoria while he also received help from pre-trainer Bronwyn Upjohn, who taught him to get on a horse from scratch in Melbourne. Despite having gone through a difficult teenage life of being homeless and being rejected twice from the Victorian apprentice jockeys' programme, Wilson-Taylor heeded his uncle's advice and went to Coffs Harbour in New South Wales where trainer Brett Dodson took him in as an apprentice jockey.
He made his debut at Port Macquarie in July 2018 and won on one of his three mounts. Wilson-Taylor then moved further north to Queensland to trainer Lindsay Hatch and quickly became prolific on the country and provincial circuit. He won the 2021/2022 Brisbane champion apprentice premiership and graduated to seniors' rank in March last year. Three months later, he won his first and only Group 1 race to-date after he partnered Palaisipan to score in the Tattersall's Tiara at Eagle Farm.
Wilson-Taylor had his first overseas ride in New Zealand in March this year when he steered Grail Seeker to claim the Group 2 Wellington Guineas. All-up, he has chalked up over 340 wins in six years of riding.
Currently licensed by Racing Queensland, Wilson-Taylor finished 10th on 27 wins on the 2023/2024 Queensland Metropolitan jockeys' premiership. He goes to scale at 54kgs.
